L O Y C E G A Y OP O E T / / T E A C H I N G A R T I S T / / A C T I V I S T

T H E B I OLOYCE GAYO is a Tanzanian born tour ing

poet , teaching art ist , and act iv ist based in

Houston, TX. Gayo’s work is inf luenced by

her exper ience in the Afr ican Diaspora and

celebrates the journey of a people

dispersed. Gayo was the slam champion

of the UT Spitshine poetry s lam team who

won the 2014 Col legiate Union Poetry Slam

Inv i tat ional (CUPSI) . Her work has been

featured on Button Poetry , Wr i te About

Now, Badi l isha Poetry , F ie lds Magazine and

PBS. She teaches creative writ ing for

Wr i ters in the Schools , Houston and

founded a creat ive wr i t ing and

performance in i t iat ive based in Dar-es-

Salaam, Tanzania cal led Paza Sauti .

P A S T P E R F O R M A N C E S

MTAANI, MASKANI EXHIBITION (CURATOR, FEATURE), DAR ES SALAAM TANZANIA, FEB 2018

NAFASI ART FESTIVAL (FEATURE), DAR ES SALAAM TANZANIA, DEC 2017

WORLD ISLAMIC ECONOMIC FORUM MOCAFEST (FEATURE), KUCHING MALAYSIA, NOV

2017

WOMEN OF THE WORLD POETRY SLAM, DALLAS TX, MAR 2017

DIASPORA DICTION (FEATURE), NEW ORLEANS LA, FEB 2017

MUD ISSUE RELEASE PARTY (FEATURE), AUSTIN TX, JAN 2017

BRYN MAWR CUPSI QUALIFIER SLAM (FEATURE), PA, OCT 2016

DISTANT RELATIVES EXHIBITION (FEATURE), AUSTIN TX, DEC 2015

BRAVE NEW VOICES, PHILADELPHIA PA, AUG 2014

CUPSI (CHAMPIONS), BOULDER CO , APRIL 2014

CUPSI, NEW YORK NY, APRIL 2013

"WE FORGOT CROWNS

DO NOTHING FOR

KINGS BUT PUT WEIGHT

ON THEIR HEADS AND A

TARGET ON THEIR

BACKS" - H O W W E F O R G E T

C L I C K T O W A T C H

( B U T T O N P O E T R Y )

PBS ARTS IN

CONTEXT

"HOME"C L I C K T O W A T C H

" N a s a h a u m a r a n g a p i n i m e s i k i l i z a

m s h a h i r i h u y u , l a k i n i k i l a w a k a t i

n a s i k i a s a u t i m p y a . "

-   @ A U D R E Y N A L U C Y

" S o m e h o w k n o w i n g a s w e l i s t e n t o t h i s

b r a v e , e m o t i o n a l l y n a k e d p o e t … t h e r e i s

a n i n e s c a p a b l e r e m e m b r a n c e . A n

u n d e n i a b l e t r u t h , r e s o n a n c e o f f e r e d t o u s

w i t h g e n e r o u s p a s s i o n , c o n v i c t i o n ,

i n t e g r i t y a n d v u l n e r a b i l i t y . Y o u c a n ' t

a v o i d b e i n g t o u c h e d o r p r o v o k e d b y i t . "

-   B A D I L I S H A P O E T R Y

A c a r r i e r o f a n a n c i e n t w i s d o m , a

d e l i b e r a t e p s a l m . W i t h h e r c l e a r

s o u n d a n d e m o t i o n - f i l l e d

p e r f o r m a n c e s , L o y c e c l e a r s a

r o o m a n d f i l l s i t w i t h p o s s i b i l i t y .

S h e r e m i n d s u s t o k n o w o u r s e l v e s

a n d o u r h i s t o r y b e t t e r , s o t h a t w e

m a y b e m o r e e f f e c t i v e a n d l o v i n g

c o m m u n i t y m e m b e r s - - a d i v i n e

v e s s e l , a n e s s e n t i a l a r t i s t :

a m i r a c l e m a k e r . "

- A R I A N A B R O W N

T E S T I M O N I A L S

F O L L O W L O Y C E :

T W I T T E R : @ L O Y C E G A Y O

I N T A : @ L O Y C E G

C O N T A C T L O Y C E :

L O Y C E G A Y O @ G M A I L . C O M

L O Y C E G A Y O . C O M